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America's 10 poorest states

After the U.S. Census released its data for 2012 U.S. income and poverty, The Economist called the numbers "both grim and unsurprising."

The rich were getting richer, the poor poorer and the unemployment numbers were stagnant.

Even though the country had added 2 million jobs, many states, especially in the South, continued to suffer. Mississippi's median household income, which is the amount of money earned by the household that falls exactly in the middle of the pack of all the other households, was nearly half that of the richest.

Childhood poverty is a big problem for states that are among the poorest. Many have a child poverty rate around 25 percent.

Even more grim is that in 2012, 46.5 million U.S. citizens lived below the poverty line, slightly more than in 2011. That's 15 percent of the country.

Click ahead to see which 10 states are the poorest, by median household income.